Tobacco-leaf-stemming machine.



No. 044,000. Patent Feb. 20, |900.

` F. 0.' mETEmcH.

TOBAGO() LEAF STEIMIING MACHINE.

(Appumon med Jung 21, 1899.) A(No Model.) SISheets-Sheet l.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

F. 0. DIETERIH.

TBACCU LEAF STEHMING MACHINE.

(Application Bled June 21, 1899.)

(No Model.)

/N VE N T019 THE Nonms PETERS co.. PHOTO-urns.. wAsHlNGToN. D. c,

No. 044,000. Patented Feb. 20, |900. F. 0..0|Tm0n.

TOBACCO LEAF STEMMING MACHINE.

(Application led June 21, 1899.)

(No Model.)

3 Sheetsfsheet 3.

//vEssEs .I //v VEN To@ THE NORRIS PETERS C0" FHQT-LITNQ., WASHING-TVN, D.

NiTnD STATES FFICE.

PATENT TOBACCO-LEAF-STEMMING MACHINE.

sPEcIrIcArI oN forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,006, dated February 2o, 1900.

Application iiled June 2l, 1899. Serial No. 721,355. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED G. DIETERICH, of Washington, in the District of Columbia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Leaf-Stemming Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of tobacco-leaf-stemming machines having stemming mechanism in the nature of superimposed rolls formed with coacting surfaces operating with a wiping action upon the stem as it is drawn through the rolls.

Primarily this invention seeks to provide a simplified construction and arrangement of parts capable of being economically assembled, which can be easily operated by unskilled labor, and which will effectively and rapidly serve to stem the leaf with a minimum danger of breaking the stem or producing iinperfect leaf separations.

In its more specific nature this invention involves certain improvements in the stemming-rolls whereby to provide the same with coacting wiping-surfaces capable of yielding transversely or in the direction of their length, whereby the said surfaces will eect a dierential wiping action upon the stern proportionate to the character of the stem, such surfaces being, as it were, automatically governed by the varying thickness of the stems as they are drawn between the said surfaces.

Another feature of this invention lies in combining with the stem ming-rolls a plurality of sets of drawing-rolls that have their drawing or stem-gripping coacting surfaces in the plane of the wiping-line of the stemmingrolls and which serve to draw the stems through said rolls in a direct line, said sets of drawing-rolls being arranged to travel at variable speed,whereby the stem can be slowly drawn through the wiping-surfaces at the beginning ofthe stemmingaction toprovide fora slow and more continuous wiping action upon that part of the stem to which the leaf the more tenaciously adheres and which will serve to draw the outer or tip end of the stem to which the leaf adheres with the least tenacity very rapidly through the wiping-surfaces.

In its subordinate features this invention comprehends certain details of construction and novel arrangement of parts, such as will be first described in detail and then be specifically pointed out in the appended claims; reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a plan view of my tobacco-stemming machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a por'- tion thereof, illustrating a modified arrangement of the combined leaf carrier, feed, and stem-drawing devices. Fig. 3 is a partial end elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4l is an end elevation of the operating-gearing for driving the stemming-rolls and the drawing-rolls. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the stem-wiping and drawing rolls, taken on the line of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of one of the stem-wiping rolls. Fig. 7 is a section of a pair of drawing-rolls, the coactin g surfaces being shown plainthat is, without card-teeth-more clearlyillustrating the operation of the said rolls. Fig. 8 is a similar view, but showing a slightly-modifled construction of the wiping-rolls. Fig. 9 is a face view of the swiftly-running drawingrolls. Fig. 10 is a cross-section on the line 10 l0 of Fig. 8. Figs. 11 and 12 are detail sections on the lines 11 11 and 12 12 of Fig. 1. Fig. 13 is a perspective view of my improved machine, the leaf-feed mechanism being of the form shown in` Fig. 2.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 13, 1 indicates a suitable supporting-frame, one portion, 1, of which extends laterally at the front end and forms a support for the leaves,which are laid thereon bythe helper,7 who unties the leaf-bunches, wherebyto place the said leaves in convenient reach of the operator, who in practice feeds the leaves singly to the carrier or feed devices that deliver the leaves to the stemming mechanism.

The stemming mechanism comprises a pair of superimposed rolls 5 5, having card-teeth coactiug surfaces arranged to operate upon the leaf and stem with a wiping action.v The rolls 5 5, the particular construction of which forms an essential feature of this invention,

Vare disposed longitudinally upon the main frame and are mounted upon shafts suitably journaled on the said main frame, the front ends of the said rolls 5 5aM being so separated as to leave an entrant end for the tobaccoleaves, which are fed sidewise therebetween in the manner presently explained. The rolls IOO 5 5 are geared together at their outer ends, and the shaft of roll 5 carries a fast pulley 6 and a loose pulley 6a, it also having a double gear YY, one section Y of which meshes with the worin-gear 7 on the short transverselyheld shaft 7, which connects through the medium of the belt 8 with the stub-shaft 8, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear. The section Y' of the double gear meshes with a gear Z of like diameter mounted on the shaft of the upper roll 5 and imparts motion thereto.

The leaf feed and carrier means in the preferred construction, as illustrated in Fig. l, comprises an endless carrier 31, having a series of stem-grips arranged to travel in the same horizontal plane with the meeting edges or wiping-line of the stemming-rolls. The carrier 3l consists of a vertically-held link chain 32, which engages with a pair of horizont-al sprocket-wheels 33, disposed at the front or feed end of the machine, and a sprocket-wh eel 34 at the rear or discharge end and disposed in a diverging direction to the wiping-rolls. The carrier 3l also passes over a guide sprocket-wheel 35. 3G indicates a guide on the bed of the rim,which is provided to steady the clamping portions of the endless carrier in its line of travel.

. It will be noticed by reference to Fig. l that the endless carrier has a portion (indicated by 50) held to travel in the line parallel with the longitudinal axis of the wiping-roll and with its clamping members close up to a cut-away portion 1 of the bed-support, whereby the operator can readily slip the butt-ends of the stems into the carrier-clam ps as they pass the portion lc, which clamps as they approach toward the said portion lC are held open and are adapted to be moved to their closed position and grip the stem immediately after it has been inserted between them.

The clamp members consist of a series of closely-held gripper-jaws, the lower member 38 of each clamp being iixedly secured to the carrier-chain and held to slide on the guideway, while the upper member 38 of each clamp is pivotally hung in the ears 381. Each of the hinge members 38n has a beveled guideroller on its inner end adapted to alternately engage with a cam-rim 40 and an inthrowplate 41, the cam-rim 40 being so arranged that as the stem-clamps move in position to engage the stem-butts the guide or rollers on the hinge members 38a will engage the said cam-'rim and throw the swinging jaw down to grip the stem, while the int-hrow-plate 4l is so arranged that the said guide-rollers will release the stem immediately after it has been engaged by the last set of draw-rolls, hereinafter fully described. The inthrow-plate 4l extends to a point just in advance of the camrim 40, as clearly shown in Fig. l.

Referring now particularly to Figs. l, 2, and 3, it will be seen that in connection with the stemming-rolls and the leaf-feeding devices I employ two sets of draw-rolls, one set 9 9 of which is held up closely to the wiping-rolls near the forward end thereof, while the other set 10 10a, which is disposed in the same horizontal plane with the rolls 9 9, is arranged closely to the first set of rolls 9 9 and in line with the rear portion of the wiping rolls. Both sets of rolls 9 9 and l0 l0 have their forward ends open to provide an entrance for the stems as they are fed sidewise between them, and the entrant end of the rear or last set of rolls l0 l0a is locatedjust over the discharge end of the rolls 9 9. It will be observed that the two sets of rolls 9 9 and lO 10 are projected parallell y to the wiping-rolls and have their coacting stein-gripping faces in a plane with the wiping-line of the stemmingrolls. This arrangement provides for a pull of the stem in a direct horizontal plane, and thereby materially reduces the danger of breaking the stem by torsional or twist strain.

So far as described the operation of my invention is best explained as follows: The leaves are fed singly in place by projecting their ste m-b utts into the clamps of the carrier,

which clamps as they close on the stem-butt draw the leaf sidewise into the entrant end of the wiping-rolls. In my present invention the carrier-clamps pass between the entrant ends of the rolls 5 5 only so far as to bring the stem-butt in contact with the wiping-surfaces, the said carrier then passing rearwardly in a direction divergingly from the wipingsurfaces. This movement of the carrier serves to slowly draw the leaf laterally or sidewise between the wipingsurfaces and at the same time pull the butt-end of the stem into frictional engagement with the first set of drawrolls 9 9, which rolls then act as a means for drawing the stem transversely through the wiping-rolls at the same time that the carrier is moving the said stems sidewise--t hat is, laterally in a direction lengthwise of the said rolls. In practice the rolls 9 9 are geared to move synchronously with the carrier, and both are geared to move very slow, whereby to hold the butt-end of the stem suiiiciently long in contact with the wiping-surfaces to eect a positive and clean wiping action upon the stem. The carrier 3l also has its clamps arranged to pass between the entrant ends of the second set of draw-rolls lO l0a a distance sufficient to cause the stern to be frictionally engaged. The entrance end of the inthrowplate 41 is disposed just where the clamps deliver the stems to the rolls 10 l0, so that the stem-clam ps release the stem immediately after the rolls l0 10 engage the stem. It will thus be seen that the rolls lO l0a serve to draw the stems in a direct line through the wipingrolls and also act as stein-dischargers, that feed the stem into a tubular guide .12, which discharges the stem to the rearof the machine.

The rolls l0 l0n are geared to run at ahigh speed, whereby to draw the outer or fragile end of the stem quickly through the wipingrolls. This m eans of drawing the stem through the wiping-rolls is a very advantageous one, for the reason that the stem is not subjected IOO IIO

to lateral or sidewise motion through the wipin g-rolls after its more fragile portion engages the stem. This sidewise motion of the stem, While a Very essential one during the wiping action upon the butt-end thereof, is not necessary, and to a degree is objectionable when applied to the tip or outer end of the stem, as the tip-end of the stem has a tendency to buckle or twist into the card -teeth when moved sidewise therebetween.

Any suitable drive-gearing may be employed for imparting the proper rotary action to the draw-rolls, but I prefer to drive the said drawrolls from the shafts of the wiping-rolls, and for this purpose the shafts of the rolls 9 9 have gears Z Z2, that intermesh with themselves, and the gear Z engages with the gear Z on vthe shaft of the wiping-roll 5a, While the gear Z2 meshes with the gear Y', as best shown in Fig. 4. The gear Z2 meshes with the idler gear b, that engages with the pinion a on the shaft of the lower roll l0, and the said shaft also carrries a gear a', that meshes with a corresponding-sized gear a2 on the shaft of the upper roll l0. In practice the relative arrangement of the several gears are such that the rolls 9 9a will be driven at a speed corresponding to the speed of the carrier 3l, which carrier may be driven by the belt 31X, as incated in dotted lines in Fig. l.

When the feed mechanism is of the form shown in Figs. 2 and 13, it is driven by a shaft 20, having a gear connection with the gear Z on the upper wiping-roll shaft and connected bythe intermediate gearing 2l with the shaft 22, that drives the coacting gripping-belts, the general arrangement of which is illustrated in detail inFigs. 2 and 8, and comprises a pair of endless belts 23, having coacting opposing surfaces 23a 23a, that pass through the entrant ends of the wiping-rolls 5 5, as also the drawing-rolls 9 9a and l0 l0, the forward ends of the feeding-belts extending over the bed portion la in convenient position to permit the operator to slip the sternbutts between the coacting or gripping sur.

faces of the said belts.

A serious objection encountered in the use of stemming mechanisms in the nature of wiping-surfaces having coacting surfaces of cardteeth secured to a rigid base is that as the wiping-pressure of such form of card-toothed covered rolls is uniform throughout the wiping-line the same impact or wiping force is distributed over both the stronger and weaker portions of the stem, thereby causing a large proportion of the stems to break and what do not break to be more or less imperfectly separated from the leaf-blade. To overcome this objection, I have provided stemmingrolls having coacting surfaces capable of effecting a varying pressure upon the leaf and stem from the entrant to the exit end ofthe said rolls. This presentinvention, further, has for its purpose to provide stem-wiping surfaces of the character stated capable of effecting a varying pressure transversely, (in the direction of the rotation of the surfaces,) whereby the wiping force will automatically increase or diminish correspondingly to the thickness of the leaves and stems being engaged. The rolls 5 5av consist each of a shaft d, upon which is fixedly mounted a solid core e, having seats e in its ends. Surrounding the core eis an inflatable rim f, the ends f of which lap the ends of the core and are adapted to be held up tight against the seats e by clamp-disks g, which are detachably clamped in place by the nuts h, that engage with threaded portions dX on the shaft d, as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and '7. The inflatable rim is in the nature of a pneumatic tire and has at one end a valve feed opening t', whereby the tension of the tire can be increased or diminished at will. This manner of regulating the coaeting surfaces is an advantageous one, for the reason that the said wiping-surfaces can be almost instantly adjusted for engagement with different grades of tobacco. Thus if the run of tobacco-leaves is of a very dry grade the coacting surfaces can be adjusted to be of a very yielding character by simply letting out some of the air from under the rim, and when a tougher grade of staple is to be stemmed the rim can be less yielding by blowing it up tighter.

The card-clothing j is made fast to the inflatable rim in any approved manner.

For the reason that the surfaces can be thereby readily set to a more or less yielding condition I prefer to mount the coacting surfaces upon an inflatable rim; but I desire it understood that when the machine is to be used for operating on a fixed grade of tobacco the rim upon which the said coactin g surfaces is secured may be in the nature of a rubber body f 5, mounted upon the solid core, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. By providing rolls having coacting surfaces yielding in their horizontal plane, as also in the direction transversely to said plane, a wiping action of varying elnciency in the direction of the length of .the stem is produced. Thus it will be readily seen by reference to the diagrammatic views Figs. 7 and 8, in which the surfaces are shown without card-teeth, that as the said surfaces are mounted upon a yielding base throughout its ent-ire length the said surfaces will yield or give proportionately to the thickness or character of the leaf or stem that passes therebetween, it being manifest that as the stem at the butt-end is the thickest and the leaf at such point the most tenacious in adhering to the stem the wiping force will be greatest at the entrant end of the rolls and the less at the exit end, where the thin or fragile portions of the stem are drawn through.

While I have illustrated the inflatable rim for the rolls as being secured at the ends of the core portion of the said rolls, I desire it understood that I do not confine myself to this means of fastening the rim to the roll` body.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what IOO IIO

I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine of the class described; stemming-rolls operating with a wiping action; draw-rolls for pulling the stem through the stemming-rolls at one speed; a second set of draw-rolls for pulling the stem through the stemming-rolls at a different speed, and means for advancing the stem into engagement with the several sets of draw-rolls.

2. The combination with the stemmingrolls operating with a wiping action; of a plurality of sets of draw-rolls and means for imparting variable speeds to the different sets of draw-rolls, and means for advancing the leaf sidewise first into the stemming-rolls and then successivelyinto the several sets of drawrolls.

3. The combination with stemming means, comprising coacting opposing surfaces operating with a wiping action; of a pair of drawing-rolls having their entrant ends adjacent the entrant ends of the wiping-surfaces; a second set of draw-rolls having their entrant ends near the discharge end of the first set of draw-rolls, and means for advancing the leaves sidewise first into the entrant ends of the wiping-rolls and then into the entrant end of the first set of draw-rolls, then into the entrant end of the second set of drawingrolls, said leaf-feeding means being arranged to release the stems after they are engaged by the second set of drawing-rolls, as specified.

4. The combination with stemming means, comprising coacting opposing surfaces working with a wiping action; a pair of drawingrolls, having their entrant ends adjacent the entrant ends ofl the wiping-surfaces; a second set of draw-rolls having their entrant ends near the discharge end of the first set of draw-rolls; means for advancing the leaf sidewise first into the entrant end of the wipingrolls, then into the entrant end of the first set of draw-rolls, then into the entrant ends of the second set of draw-rolls, said leaf-feeding means being arranged to release the stems after they are engaged by the second set of drawing-rolls, and driving mechanism constructed to rotate the several sets of drawingrolls at Variable speeds, for the purposes specified.

5. A leaf-stemming means, comprising coacting opposing surfaces operating with a wiping action; a plurality of sets of drawingrolls; means for imparting variable speeds of rotation to the different sets of drawing-rolls, and means for advancing the stems laterally from one set of drawing-rolls to the other, as said rolls draw the stem through the wipingsurfaces.

G. In a machine of the class describefhthe combination with means for removing the leaf from the stem by a wiping action; of a mechanism for drawing the stem through the wiping means, comprising a plurality of sets of rolls having their gripping-surfaces in the plane of the wiping-line of the coacting leafremoving surfaces, both sets of draw-rolls being disposed parallel with the wiping line of the aforesaid coacting surfaces; means for advancing the leaf sidewise to lthe coacting wiping-surfaces and into the end of the first set of draw-rolls; speed-gearing for imparting a synchronous movement to the leaf-advancing means, and the first set of draw-rolls and for rotating the second set of rolls at an increased speed over the first set of drawrolls, for the purposes specified.

7. In a tobacco-leaf-stemming machine of the character described the combination with the wiping-rolls 5 5a; the first set of drawrolls 9 9, and the second set of draw-rolls l0 10a, said wiping-rolls and drawing-rolls having their outer ends open to form entrant portions, the entrant portions of the several rolls being in the same horizontal plane; of means for advancing the leaf sidewise, first into the entrant end of the wiping-rolls in a line parallel with the longitudinal axis of the said rolls, and then divergingly rearward into the entrant end of the first set of draw-rolls and at the same time laterally in the direction of the length of said rolls, and then into the entrant end of the second set of drawingrolls.

8. In a tobacco-leaf-stemming machine of the character described; a leafstemming means consisting of a pair of rolls having coacting opposing surfaces in the nature of cardteeth, said rolls having a stock portion and an infiatable rim to which the card-clothing is secured, substant-ially as shown and for the purposes described.

9. A stemming-roll, having tobacco-leafstemming means, comprising a stock portion; an infiatable rim mounted on said stock portion having a valved inlet, and wiping-surfaces mounted externally upon the tire, substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

10. Awiping-rollhavingtobacco-leaf-stemming means of the character described; consisting of a shaft having two threaded portions; a stock fiXedly mounted upon the shaft between the said portions, said stock having end grooves; an iniiatable rim mounted upon the stock having its ends engaging the seats or grooves on the ends of the stock; clamping-disks for holding the rim ends into their seats; clamping-nuts engaging said disks, mounted on the threaded portions of the shaft and card-clothing mounted upon the inflatable rim, all being arranged substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

FRED G. DIETERICl-I.

Witnesses:

LoUIs DIETERICH, A. E. DIETERICH.

IOO

IIO 

